Friday 10 November 2000
The Scottish Athletics Federation today announced the appointment of Chris Robison to the post of National Endurance Coach.
Supported by an award of £228,000 from sportscotland Lottery Fund, the post is key to the development and support of Scotland's endurance athletes and coaches, and aims to increase the number of endurance athletes in competition. The role will also provide a talent identification scheme to establish and manage Scotland's emerging young endurance athletes.
The announcement comes at time when coaching is coming into the spotlight in Scotland with the forthcoming Coach 2000 - Europe's largest coaching conference - and the shortlist for sportscotland's Coach of the Year awards due to be announced in the next few days.
Chris said: "I am delighted to be given this opportunity to develop all aspects of endurance running within Scotland. We have an excellent blend of experience and expertise within our own coaching force and some brilliant athletes of recent years, all of whom I look forward to working with. It is important that we use all the talent we have within Scotland to benefit the athletes and I relish this challenge.
Meg Stone, the Scottish Institute of Sport High Performance Athletics Coach added: "I am looking forward to working closely with Chris in his new role. He is bringing a great deal of experience to this post and combined with his depth of understanding and knowledge of endurance events he will be a real asset to the team."
Chief Executive of sportscotland, Ian Robson, commented: "No-one should underestimate the role that coaching plays in helping Scottish athletes produce and sustain world class performances. I am sure that Chris Robison's appointment will prove an excellent example of quality coaching in action."
"Lottery Funding of over £1.4m is currently helping to employ National Coaches in seven different sports and sportscotland is committed to ensuring our athletes have access to top quality coaching, from grassroots right up to international level."
An active member of Inverclyde AC, Chris is a diverse athlete having competed for Scotland on the track, over cross-country and in hill and road running in a running career which spans over 19 years. He represented Scotland at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria over 10,000m and was also part of the Scottish Silver medal winning team at this year's European Hill Running Championships.
Chris has been in post within Scottish Athletics as Education Officer since October 1998. He will move to his new post on 1 December 2000.
Also announced this week was the appointment of Tommy Dowens as the first National High Performance Coach for Volleyball, made possible by an award of £235,000 over four years from sportscotland Lottery Fund.
Dowens, who is currently a teacher at Shawlands Academy in Glasgow, has been a major influence in volleyball development for a number of years, coaching the successful Su Ragazzi Club. Dowens said: "I very much look forward to being a part of the continuing success story of the National Team Programme."
- sportscotland's lottery funded National Coach Support Programme helps to appoint sport specific coaches to work with athletes and other coaches with the aim of improving elite performances and achieving greater success on the international stage.
- sportscotland Lottery Fund has also awarded over £140,000 through the Performance Coach Development Programme, which helps coaches currently working with senior or junior national standard athletes to develop their coaching knowledge and skills. Recent awards include £1,705 to help bring South African Cricket coach Bob Woolmer to Scotland to hold a series of coaching seminars and £10,000 to the Scottish Football Association to send 23 Scottish coaches to study coaching at the 1998 World Cup as part of the UEFA Pro-Licence coaching qualification.
- Coach 2000 is Europe's biggest coaching conference and is now in its fourth year. The conference, which is a joint initiative between sportscotland and Glasgow City Council, brings together the world's top coaching experts to share their knowledge and experience and takes place between 18 and 19 November at the Moat House, Glasgow.
- The Coach of the Year awards take place on 30 November 2000 at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, and aim to recognise the contribution that coaches can make to the development of individual and team performance in sport. The shortlist for the awards will be announced in the next few days.